Little Fish, BTW I've caught a legal fish every time I've used them. Only the Black mouth really knows for sure if it works or not. But no matter how hard I hit him over the head with my fish club, he still won't answer me!!!

Now that makes sense, although those "special pellets" look like OMP to me Damn, now I gotta build one of these for the derby

Spawnout, I'm kinda laughing to myself right now! Not at you. My evil plan about the sticks is working. He He He ! Yea I think these things really work. What the hey, it isn't hurting anything dragging it around.
Craig

I am kinda skeptical...

Fish feed into the tide, we troll with the tide... hmmm. Troll the same way three times, three times the scent in the water... More boats- less fish.

Let me know who else has these sticks. I wanna follow you around...

I guess it doesn't hurt... I imagine they're banking on the "trigger" instinct.

Downriggin'

The way Tom explained it at the Snohomish chapter of PSA was that he tested several new products this last summer/fall up in Port Hardy and two new products stood out from the rest and attracted noticeably more fish than gear that is currently on the market. The first was the Roto Chip lure that has been discussed on this board. The second was the chum stick. I think he said something like "the chum stick worked almost too well." At any rate I am willing to give it a try, but have yet to get my hands on one to demo.

And yes, the fish pellets you put in the stick are made from the same stuff hatchery raised fish eat while in the pen so it does trigger a feeding instinct learned at the hatchery.

So, lets say one wanted to get some fish pellets, where would he go? I can't imagine WallyWorld has them in the fish aisle!!....

The easy answer is buy them from the salmon university guys. The hard answer is find out who makes the pellets used in the hatcheries then figure out how to get ahold of them. I'm thinking I will go the easy route.

The way my friend who had the proto type sticks and went to the SU seminar explained it to me was, that when the BM are being raised in the hatchery, their food changes. The pellets they used in their testing was from the last food source at the hatchery. I very well could be wrong, but that is what I was told.
I don't know how much they are going to retail for, but I think it cost me about $5 a piece to build my own. Of course I stole the 3/4" conduit from the Electricians at work. So all I had to buy was the caps and glue. Oops, I stole the glue from work too!
I see the the SU guys claim to have some kinda SONIC tube on theirs. I drilled the top half of my tube with 1/4" holes and angled them down at a 45 deg. angle. Then in the bottoom half I drilled 1/16" holes at 90 deg.
I think this forces the water in and then the scent bleeds out at a slow rate.
It's just my opion on this thing, I could be wrong.

$4 in parts for 2 of them, already built. Carpenters may be pretty slick, but when it comes to tubes with holes in them, bagpipe builders are the experts :p

I don't intend to mess with the hatchery pellets, I know what they are made from anyway - used to make the stuff myself for OreAqua years ago. I like the idea of a time release of the "secret scent" that I know works for BM

DR, I think this works for the same reason that I think thumping the bottom with the ball works. Fish at depth are pretty blind, and they don't hear all that well, but boy can they smell things - in concentrations so small that we can measure them in the water only by their reaction to them. I think the ball stirs up a cloud of silt, the same way that a BM stirs it up digging for sandlance. Neighboring blackmouth smell it and horn on in. Also, blood and guts in the water from dazed and bleeding baitfish, not to mention slime and scales all over the place, also attract fish big time, again mostly by smell. Stinking the place up sure won't hurt - fish are likely to pick up the scent and follow it to the source - my lure

Anyway, for $4, a few minutes of work, and a little more of the secret sauce, why shouldn't I give it a try? 'Specially for 3 large this weekend

@#$%^&*(&$ DANGBLAST IT ALL!!! I just got pulled out of the derby. It would seem that my stepdaughter's 13th birthday is the 23rd. Family coming into town. M wifes dad missed her 13th so she is hell bent I am there for this one. If any of you are stepfathers, you know how important it is to be there for them.

How about we make this a quarterly thing like DR suggest? Would love to get together with you guys now and again to fish/drink/lie. Also would be great to get the wives/kids involved and make some new friends.

I can see this turning into something on a quarterly basis. Especially if they have an extended King Season in the Straights this summer.
Your a good man to stay home for the Birthday party, that just means more fishing for you in the future, got to build up those points!

Kev

Steve! sorry to hear that, .....oh well next time.

We can make this a quarterly deal, but I would want help getting it all together, or we could take turns organizing.

On Sunday I will post a summary of everything we have set up to date.


So with these chum sticks, couldnt you make one out of PVC and just pack it full of squid and crushed herring to create a scent trail? Seems like it would work to me....but you better put a big 'ol treble behind it because that may be more appealing to a BM than your setup!

BadDawg- Just got home and got the package...Thanks!

Board members-
BadDawg sent me a bunch of Huskie Merchandise for the derby.

5 nice Nike hats of various colors with embroidered UW symbols.
4 Nicely made Team Nike Golf Shirts with UW logos
2 grey huskie T-shirts with logos.


nice stuff!

Hey there Sky-Guy, still working on my contacts. Not giving up on them. Hopefully to have answers by Monday.
Also, just an idea here, with everyone attending what if everyone donates something small. A pack of squids, a lure, ect.. Budget $10.00 or what ever you can do. Maybe even a gag prize that has to do with fishing. Than bring it to the weigh in. All of us put our heads together and name some prize awards, some fun ones. Have a few laughs at the weigh in.

Fish On,

Erndog

Sky Guy, You can put anything you want in the chum sticks. You just gave me an idea for scent. What do you think if you were to grind up herring like you say into a paste and then pour it into the tube, then put it in the freezer over night?

Sky Guy, you are doing a helluva job getting this derby together. I commend your efforts!!

Darn, I wish my family was not coming into town that weekend.

JacobF, read your private messages, Doug

Easy, Your problem is a easy fix. Just go and plead your case when you get home. Ya gotta go man!
It's easier to beg for forgiveness then to ask permission.

Unfortunately, I can't really ditch a funeral to go fishing.

Oops! Sorry Carl! Excuse me while I dilodge my foot from my mouth!
Craig